Apparatus for cutting weft yarn ends under tension on a shuttleless loom



TOEMON SAKAMOTO 3,461,920 APPARATUS FOR CUTTING WEFT YARN ENDS UNDER TENSION ON A SHUTTLELESS LOOM Filed Aug. 23, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet. 1

1969 I TOEMON' SAKAMOTO I APPARATUS FOR CUTTING WEFT YARN'ENDS UNDER TENSION ON A SHUTTLELESS LOOM Filed Aug. 23, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 23, 196"! l- 1959 TOEMON SAKAMOTO 3,461,920-

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING WEF'I YARN ENDS UNDER TENSION I ON A SHUTTLELESS LOOM v v 3 ShQOtE-Shdfit 8 United States Patent 3,461,920 APPARATUS FOR CUTTING WEFT YARN ENDS UNDER TENSION ON A SHUTTLELESS LOOM Toemon Sakamoto, 11-22 Hirosawa, 3-Cl1ome, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka-ken, Japan Filed Aug. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 662,692 Claims priority, application Japan, Aug. 29, 1966, 41/57,199; Dec. 17, 1966, 41/115,217

US. Cl. 139-302 Int. Cl. D03d 49/70 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to an improved apparatus for cutting weft yarn ends under tension on a shuttleless loom, and more particularly relates to an improved apparatus for cutting weft yarn ends at a portion of the weft yarn between a selvage of the woven cloth and an additional selvage formed outside of the selvage with a certain intervening space while tensioning the additional selvage.

Generally, in case a cloth is woven on a shuttleless loom, the weft yarn is inserted from one side of the woven cloth (hereinafter called a picking side) to another side of the woven cloth (hereinafter called opposite side). At every picking motion, .both ends of the weft yarn already inserted are cut by a suitable cutting device, and the opposite side ends of the cut weft yarn hang down out of the selvage portion of the woven cloth. Such hanging yarn ends are liable to be woven again into the structure of the woven cloth by the next picking motion and this often results in such fault of cloth as a weft yarn folded-in or a damaged selvage.

In order to avoid such disadvantages, it is a well-known technique to provide an additional selvage at the position outside of the opposite side selvage of the woven cloth with a certain intervening distance for holding the ends of the inserted weft and to cut the inserted weft at that intervening portion between these two sel-vages. Although it is possible to hold the ends of the inserted weft using the above-described additional selvage, the weft yarn itself is held still in a slackened condition and this often causes abnormal cutting operations resulting in an irregular condition of the selvage portion of the woven cloth.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for cutting weft yarn ends smoothly in tensioned condition on a shuttleless loom. 1

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for producing cloth having less faults in selvage portion on a shuttleless loom.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for producing cloth with less defects in the selvage portion on a shuttleless loom with simple mechanical deformations.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the ensuing description with reference to the accompanying drawings to which, however, the scope of the invention is in no way limited.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for cutting weft yarn ends embodying the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a Weft yarn cutter used in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1,

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of take-up rollers for taking up an additional selvage used in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a plan view of another embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention,

FIG. 6 is an explanatory side view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 is a perspective View for showing an advancing condition of the additional selvage through means for deflecting a path thereof used in the apparatus shown in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein an additional selvage is taken up after being separated from the selvage of the woven cloth by a taking-up device at slightly higher taking-up speed than that of the woven cloth, thereby the additional selvage is always maintained in a tensioned condition. A weft yarn cutter 10, which is supported by an arm 11, is arranged slightly outside of a roller temple 12 between a selvage 15 of a cloth 7 and an additional selvage 9. The bottom end of the vertical portion of the arm 11 is secured to the rod 13 which extends inwardly from the machine frame 1. The details of the structure of the cutter 10 are shown in FIG. 2, wherein the cutter 10 comprises a pair of horizontal portions 10', 10" and a vertical por tion 10" for connecting the two horizontal portions, An electrically heated wire 14 is strung between the end portions of the horizontal portions 10', 10" to form a substantially rectangular opening defined by the wire and the portions 10, 10" and 10". In lieu of a cutter of the heated wire type as herein described it is noted that any type of cutter may be used without obstructing the purpose of the present invention. The taking-up device of the present invention is disposed at the lower and slightly forward position of a surface roller 16 as shown in FIG. 1 and comprises a fluted take-up roller 21, a takeup roller 22, a take-up reel 19 for the additional selvage 9 and other auxiliary members for supporting or driving them. The fluted take-up roller 21 for taking-up the additional selvage 9 is mounted on a shaft 23 turnably disposed on the machine frame 1, and is provided with a plurality of' straight longitudinal grooves 21' formed on its peripheral surface parallel to the central axis thereof as shown in FIG. 3. The take-up roller 22 is turnably mounted on a shaft 24 secured to the machine frame 1 in such a manner that the periphery of the take-up roller 22 presses slightly against the periphery of the fluted roller 21. The structure of the take-up roller 22 is shown in FIG. 4, wherein the core portion 22' thereof is covered with an elastic material layer 22".

In case stronger taking-up force is required, for instance when a cloth having heavy structure is to be woven, it is recommended that the take-up roller 22 be provided with a plurality of longitudinal grooves too and make it mesh with those of the take-up roller 21.

A sprocket 25 is mounted firmly on the shaft 23 and is connected to another sprocket 27 mounted firmly on a surface roller shaft 26 by a connecting chain 28 in such a manner that the peripheral speed of the fluted roller 21, i.e., the taking-up speed of the additional selvage, becomes slightly faster than that of the surface roller 16, i.e., the taking-up speed of the woven cloth. The take-up reel 19 for reeling the additional selvage 9 is positioned under the above-described take-up rollers 21 and 22, and is mounted firmly on a shaft 20 rotatably disposed on the machine frame 1. A pulley 30' is mounted firmly on the shaft 20 and is connected to a pulley 31 mounted firmly on the shaft 23 by a spring belt 29 in such a manner that the rotating speed of the take-up reel 19 becomes slightly higher than that of the fluted take-up roller 21. In the above-described mechanism, the taking-up motion of the take-up roller 21 and the take-up reel 19 are actuated by the rotation of the surface roller shaft 26 by means of the transmitting mechanism comprising the sprockets and 27, the connecting chain 28, the pulleys and 31, and a spring belt 29', permitting slight slippage between the belt 29 and the pulleys 30 and 31.

By means of the combined operation of the abovedescribed mechanisms, the additional selvage 9 is advanced gradually under a tensioned condition from the cloth-fell toward the cutter 10 and, during this period, the additional selvage 9 is still connected to the selvage 15 of the woven cloth 7 by the inserted weft 6. As a weft yarn end section of inserted wefts 6 are cut by the cutter 10 the additional selvage 9 is separated from the selvage 15 of the woven cloth 7 and further advanced forwardly and downwardly passing over the surface of the surface roller 16 by the taking-up operation of the take-up rollers 21 and 22 while nipping the additional selvage 9 between them and winding it onto the take-up reel 19. As is already described, the additional selvage 9 is maintained in a tensioned condition throughout the taking-up operation because the additional selvage 9 is taken up at a higher take-up speed than that of the woven cloth 7 by the above described taking-up mechanism. Thus, the weft yarn end section of the inserted weft 6 is also held in a tensioned condition between selvages 9 and 15 before the cutting operation and this results in a smooth cutting operation of the cutter 10.

Meanwhile, the woven cloth 7 is taken up onto a cloth roller 18 passing over the surface roller 16 and a press roller 17 the same as in the case of the ordinary weaving looms.

Although the additional selvage 9 is maintained in a tensioned condition between the take-up rollers 21, 22 and the take-up reel 19, breakage of the selvage 9 can be prevented on account of slippage between the spring belt 29 and the pulleys 30, 31. Shedding motion of the warps 8 for the additional selvage 9 is performed by a heald 4 disposed to the loom independently from the healds 3 for the ground warp yarns 5 and the warp yarns 8 are passed through the corresponding slits of the reed 2, the same as the ground warp yarns 5.

As already described, all of the motions of the appa ratus are delivered from the surface roller so that it is not necessary to adjust the mechanical relation of the apparatus even when the density of weft or driving speed of the loom is changed.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, wherein the path of the additional selvage is defined by a pair of guide rollers and a tension roller at the position near the temple roller, thereby the additional selvage is always maintained in a tensioned condition. A temple roller 32 is turnably disposed on a temple bracket 33 by a rod 34, and the temple bracket 33 is secured to a machine frame 35 by a set bolt 36. Two guide rollers 37 and 39 and a tension roller 38 for deflecting the path of the additional selvage 40 are supported rotatably by respective studs 37', 39 and 38'. The studs 37', 38 and 39' are respectively embedded to disks 41 and 42 extending inwardly from the temple bracket 33 in such a manner that the studs 37' and 39' are positioned on a line approximately parallel to the warp line and the stud 38' is positioned slightly outside of the line. In the above described mechanical arrangement of the rollers, the additional selvage 40 is advanced in such a manner that it firstly contacts an inside periphery of the guide roller 37, secondly contacts an outside periphery of the tension roller 38 and finally contacts an inside periphery of the guide roller 39. In this connection, it is necessary for the tension roller 38 to be located at the position not more backward (i.e., looking to the right in FIG. 6) than the position of weft cutting mentioned infra.

. Besides, the guide roller 39 can, be omitted in the abovedescribed mechanism without departing from the spirit of the invention. A stationary cutter 43 is secured to a temple box 44 at a position adjacent to the selvage 45 of the woven cloth 46 and slightly backward (i.e. to the right of, in FIG. 6) of the center line of the temple roller 32. A movable cutter 47 is positioned adjacent to the stationary cutter 43 in such a manner that theinside surface of the movable cutter 47 is parallel to the outside surface of the stationary cutter 43 with a fine clearance between the two. The stem 47' of the movable cutter 47 curves at its middle portion and extends toward the outside of the temple bracket 33 and is supported adjustably at its outer end by a cutter arm 48. The degree of inclination of the movable cutter 47 with respect to the horizontal path of the additional selvage can be changed by adjusting a set screw 56 disposed to the cutter arm 48 in accordance with requirement of actual processing as shown in FIG. 6. The boss of the cutter arm 48 is secured to a cutter rod 49 which is turnably supported by the temple bracket 33. A cam lever 50 is also secured at one end to the cutter rod 49 and is provided with a cam follower 51 at its other end. The cam follower 51 is urged against a periphery of a cam 52 firmly mounted on a driving shaft 53 of the loom by a spring 54 disposed to the cam lever 50. In the above-described cam mechanism, the cam lever 50 is given a swing motion by the rotation of the cam 52, and this swing motion of the cam lever 50 is converted into an up and down reciprocating motion of the movable cutter 47. The profile of the cam 52 should be designed in such a manner that the movable cutter 47 completes one cycle of its up and down motion at every insertion of weft yarn and cuts the inserted weft one by one at every picking motion. An ordinary type of taking-up mechanism can be used for taking-up both the woven cloth 46 and the addition selvage 40 of the present embodiment.

By means of the combined operation of the abovedescribed mecahnism, the additional selvage 40 is advanced gradually under tension from the cloth-fell portion toward the movable cutter 47 and, during this stage, the additional selvage 40 is still connected to the selvage 45 of the woven cloth 46 by the inserted weft 55. When the inserted weft 55 comes to the cutting position, the movable cutter 47 moves downwardly being actuated by the cam 52 and cuts the weft 55 cooperating with the stationary cutter 43. As the inserted weft 55 is cut one by one by the cutters 43 and 47, the additional selvage 40 is separated from the selvage 45 of the woven cloth 46, and further advanced forwardly and downwardly passing over the surface of a surface roller by the taking-up operation of the take-up mechanismjBy providing tension to the additional selvage 40 in this manner, the inserted weft 55 is alsoheld under tension between selvages 40 and 45 before the cutting operation and this results in a smooth and regular cutting operation of the cutters 43 and 47.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with certain embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An improved weft cutting apparatus including means for cutting weft yarn end sections projecting from one side of a woven cloth formed on a shuttleless loom, comprising means for forming a selvage at a position spaced from the side of the woven cloth, means for tensioning the weft yarn end sections, said last-named means including means for moving said selvage relatively to the woven cloth, and means for cutting said tensioned weft yarn end sections, said means for moving said selvage relatively to the woven cloth including means for deflecting the selvage away from the woven cloth at a point prior to said cutting means in the direction of woven cloth feed.

2. An improved weft cutting apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said deflecting means comprises at least one guide roller and a tension roller said guide roller being positioned prior to said cutting means in the direction of woven cloth feed, and said tension roller being positioned ahead of said side roller in the direction of woven cloth feed, said tension roller being positioned further from the woven cloth than said guide roller.

3. An improved weft cutting apparatus including means for cutting weft yarn end sections projecting from one side of a woven cloth formed on a shuttleless loom, comprising means for forming a selvage at a position spaced from the side of the woven cloth, means for tensioning the weft yarn end sections, said last-named means including means for moving said selvage relatively to the woven cloth, and means for cutting said tensioned weft yarn end sections, said means for moving said selvage relatively to the woven cloth including means for taking up said selvage independently of said woven cloth and at a faster take-up speed than that of said woven cloth.

of take-up rollers being rotated at a slightly faster peripheral speed of said surface roller of said loom.

5. An improved weft cutting apparatus according to claim 4 wherein rotation of at least one of said pair of take-up rollers is synchronized with that of said surface rollers of said loom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,389,809 11/1945 Moessinger 139302 2,833,316 5/1958 Brown 139307 HENRY S. JAUDON, Primary Examiner 

